This week on A Taste of the Past , host Linda Pelaccio welcomes Judy Witts Francini to talk all about the food of Italian feasts! Despite not being Italian herself, Judy has an impressive Italian culinary resume including Divina Cucina cooking classes and tours as well as a cookbook and smartphone app. Telling Linda how she initially fell in love with Italy and Italian cooking, her journey to culinary expertise has been nothing if not impressive. Going month to month featuring Italian holidays a...
Apr 02, 2015•23 min•Ep. 199
The vernal equinox is upon us and with it brings the start of spring! It is also the beginning of the ancient Persian New Year celebration of Nowruz, and on this week’s A Taste of the Past , host Linda Pelaccio is talking to the “guru of Persian cuisine,” cookbook author, and culinary educator Najmieh Batmanglij all about the history and food traditions of the holiday. Having just baked a batch of baklava, Najmieh goes on to share the meaning behind certain dishes and that are vital to a proper ...
Mar 19, 2015•31 min•Ep. 198
Americans once sipped coffee and ate pie around communal tables, sharing their struggles and dreams with strangers at Horn & Hardart’s iconic Automat. This week on A Taste of the Past , host Linda Pelaccio is talking the history of the automat with Marianne Hardart, the great-granddaughter of Automat co-founder Frank Hardart; her father, Augustin, was the last of three generations of Hardarts to manage the Automats. But, what exactly is an Automat? Marianne explains it was a ‘fast food’ rest...
Mar 05, 2015•33 min•Ep. 197
From dal to samosas, paneer to vindaloo, dosa to naan, today’s A Taste of the Past is delving into the history of the food in India. Host Linda Pelaccio welcomes guest Colleen Taylor Sen, a culinary historian and writer who has specialized in the cuisine of the Indian subcontinent, to the show to dissect this country’s rich culinary traditions. The cuisine differs from north to south, yet what is it that makes Indian food recognizably Indian, and how did it get that way? To answer those question...
Feb 26, 2015•37 min•Ep. 196
This week on A Taste of the Past , host Linda Pelaccio is taking a trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway with author Sharon Hudgins . Sharon has traveled along this particular railway numerous times and worked for University of Maryland University College for 20 years, primarily as a professor in the university’s programs in Germany, Spain, Greece, Japan, Korea, and Russia. She also served as UMUC’s program administrator at two universities in Siberia and the Russian Far East, and today chats with ...
Feb 19, 2015•36 min•Ep. 195
This week on A Taste of the Past , host Linda Pelaccio is delving into the pages of culinary history, wondering how the working-class ate at the turn of the century. Dr. Katherine Leonard Turner joins Linda via phone, adding to the discussion interesting facts and thoughts brought up in her book “How the Other Half Ate: A History of the Working-Class Meals at the Turn oft he Century.” She explains that at this time, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, working-class Americans ha...
Feb 12, 2015•37 min•Ep. 194
Ciao! This week on a brand new episode of A Taste of the Past , host Linda Pelaccio is chatting with one of America’s foremost authorities on Italian food, Julia della Croce . She is the author of over 13 cooking and travel books, notably “Italian Home Cooking: 125 Recipes to Comfort Your Soul” and “The Classic Italian Cookbook.” In the past decades, traditional Italian home cooking has seemingly gone to the wayside with dining in restaurants in Italy today being much different than traditional ...
Feb 05, 2015•37 min•Ep. 193
This week on a brand new episode of A Taste of the Past , host Linda Pelaccio kicks off 2015 talking to Dr. Kimberly Wilmot Voss, author of “The Food Section: Newspaper Women and the Culinary Community.” Linda and Kim discuss how food blogs are everywhere today but that for generations, information and opinions about food were found in the food sections of newspapers in communities large and small. Until the early 1970s, these sections were housed in the women’s pages of newspapers—where women...
Jan 15, 2015•33 min•Ep. 192
This week on A Taste of the Past , host Linda Pelaccio welcomes Anna Boiardi of the infamous Chef Boyardee empire. Anna is the granddaughter of Mario Boiardi, a man who along with his two brothers (including the chef himself, Hector Boiardi) launched a canned pasta empire that now pumps out 2.5 million cans of pasta a day. Anna gives Linda the story behind how the family business came to be, including the first supermarket to sell the Chef Boyardee sauce. Between timing, great product, and a lit...
Dec 18, 2014•38 min•Ep. 191
This week on A Taste of the Past , host Linda Pelaccio is delving into some delicious food memories, using theJewish cuisine on Delancey Street in New York City, as a guide. Welcoming Aaron Rezny, Jordan Schaps, Arthur Schwartz and Cara De Silva to the show, they are the authors and contributors to the book “Eating Delancey: A Celebration of Jewish Food.” Delancey Street conjures up an entire world of Yiddishkeit, or, “the quality of being Jewish; the Jewish way of life or its customs and practi...
Dec 11, 2014•51 min•Ep. 190
This week on A Taste of the Past , host Linda Pelaccio is headed to the Grecian Island of Ikaria where inhabitants seemingly forget to die! Chef, author, and Greek food expert Diane Kochilas joins Linda to talk about this amazing place via her new book, “Ikaria: Lessons on Food, Life, and Longevity from the Greek Island Where People Forget to Die.” Diane explains that Ikaria is mythical, beautiful, enigmatic and a place where residents live unaccountably long lives. Part cookbook, part travelogu...
Dec 04, 2014•40 min•Ep. 189
This week on A Taste of the Past , host Linda Pelaccio is feeling festive, talking the history of the turkey with food historian Andrew Smith. Teaching food history at the New School in NYC, he is also the author of numerous books and hundreds of articles on food and history. Speaking on the the centerpiece of family Thanksgiving reunions, the turkey is a cultural symbol as well as a multi-billion dollar industry. As a bird, dinner, commodity, and national icon, the turkey has become as American...
Nov 20, 2014•39 min•Ep. 188
This week on A Taste of the Past , host Linda Pelaccio welcomes Farha Ternikar, professor of sociology at Le Moyne College to talk about the history of every New Yorker’s favorite meal: brunch. Author of the book “Brunch: A History,” Farha explains that when Americans think of brunch, they typically think of Sunday mornings swelling into early afternoons; mimosas and bloody Marys; eggs Benedict and coffee cake; bacon and bagels; family and friends. Her book presents a modern history of brunch no...
Nov 13, 2014•26 min•Ep. 187
This week on A Taste of the Past , host Linda Pelaccio welcomes one of Greece’s foremost cooking authorities, Aglaia Kremezi to the show. Author of the new book, “Mediterranean Vegetarian Feasts,” she lives on the island of Kea, Greece, and also runs a cooking school there. Talking to Linda about the meaning of “nose to tail” vegetarian cooking, Aglaia explains that when she was growing up in Greece, no aspect of food was wasted. Also inspired from her many travels around Greece and the surround...
Nov 06, 2014•31 min•Ep. 186
This week on A Taste of the Past , host Linda Pelaccio is joined by Margarita Carrillo Arronte to discuss the traditional foods for Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations as well as her research of some of Mexico’s historical forgotten recipes, plus where they originated from. Margarita is a teacher, chef, cookbook author, entrepreneur, and culinary activist who has spent her life researching, teaching and cooking Mexican cuisine. She is also the author of “Mexico: The Cookbook,” published by Pha...
Oct 30, 2014•40 min•Ep. 185
Were you a Gerber baby? This week on A Taste of the Past , host Linda Pelaccio is talking the history of baby food with Amy Bentley, Food Historian and Associate Professor of Food Studies at New York University. She is also the author of the book, Inventing Baby Food: Taste, Health, and the Industrialization of the American Diet. Tune in to hear all about the past, present, and future of this family necessity. This program was brought to you by Whole Foods Market . “At some point 90% of babies w...
Oct 16, 2014•47 min•Ep. 184
This week on A Taste of the Past , host Linda Pelaccio welcomes Karen Page, author of many books but most recently The Vegetarian Flavor Bible, to talk all about eating vegetarian. With the popularity of cutting out meat in the past decade, Karen Page brings some great dishes to light in the new book. Notably, Karen and her author/photographer husband, Andrew Dornenburg, became vegetarians in 2012. Talking to Linda about the history of vegetarianism, Karen mentions that in the United States, thi...
Oct 09, 2014•39 min•Ep. 183
This week on A Taste of the Past , host Linda Pelaccio is talking shrubs, flips, and rattle-skulls – aka colonial drinks! Welcoming food writer and author of Forgotten Drinks of Colonial New England Corin Hirsch via phone to brief Linda on this interesting topic, they start off the show talking about how prevalent alcoholic beverages were in the times of our founding-fathers. As it turns out, cider was a very common drink for all to enjoy – even children! Having to do with poor water quality at ...
Oct 02, 2014•45 min•Ep. 182
What is it about salty snacks? What is it, in particular, about the potato chip? Learn about the history of the iconic snack with Dirk Burhans, author of Crunch!: A History of the Great American Potato Chip . Dirk traces the history of the chip back to its origins and gives listeners some great fun-facts and cultural anecdotes. Potato Chip lovers unite! This program was brought to you by Fairway Market . “The idea of making a super thin fried potato and putting it in oil is nothing we can’t do o...
Sep 25, 2014•33 min•Ep. 181
This week on A Taste of the Past , host Linda Pelaccio kicks off the new radio season welcoming Lionel Vatinet, master baker of La Farm Bakery in Cary, North Carolina and author of the book A Passion for Bread: Lessons from a Master Baker . Lionel shares with Linda that his passion for bread was first nurtured when he joined France’s prestigious artisans’ guild Les Compagnons du Devoir as an apprentice at age 16. Emerging 7 years later with the distinguished and hard-earned title of Maitre Boula...
Sep 11, 2014•33 min•Ep. 180
It’s that time of year again – students are headed back to school! Linda Pelaccio gets in the spirit on a academic themed episode of A Taste of the Past with guest Ken Albala, Professor of History at the University of the Pacific, USA. He is the author or editor of 17 books including Eating Right in the Renaissance, The Banquet and Beans: A History. He has also coauthored two cookbooks, The Lost Art of Real Cooking and The Lost Arts of Hearth and Home. With the proliferation of food history cour...
Aug 28, 2014•35 min•Ep. 179
What is Midwestern cuisine? We may not ever know, but we get closer to understanding the food of the Midwest on a new episode of A Taste of the Past . Host Linda Pelaccio is joined by Peggy Wolff, author of Fried Walleye and Cherry Pie . With its corn by the acre, beef on the hoof, Quaker Oats, and Kraft Mac n’ Cheese, the Midwest eats pretty well and feeds the nation on the side. But there’s more to the midwestern kitchen and palate than the farm food and sizable portions the region is best kno...
Jul 03, 2014•32 min•Ep. 178
This week on A Taste of the Past Linda tackles the delectable topic of the donut with food historian, Michael Krondl, and author of The Donut: History, Recipes, and Lore from Boston to Berlin. Tracing the donut through the years, Michael details the various types of fried dough that ultimately led to the donut that we all know and love today, including the popular cronut. However, when did donuts start being filled with sweets? Where did the donut originate? Where is the donut headed in the futu...
Jun 26, 2014•34 min•Ep. 177
This week on A Taste of the Past , Linda welcomes Cindy Lobel to the program. Cindy is an assistant professor of history at Lehman College, a cultural historian with interests in urban development and consumer culture as well as the history of New York. Today she and Linda discuss her book, Urban Appetites: Food and Culture in Nineteenth-Century New York. Was New York City the first in the country to have a restaurant? What was the first restaurant to open in New York City? Surprisingly, it seem...
Jun 19, 2014•32 min•Ep. 176
This week on A Taste of the Past, Linda Pelaccio talks about the history of ramen in Japan and the United States with George Solt, author of The Untold History of Ramen . Tune into this episode to learn how international relations and trade agreements allowed ramen to evolve in Japan using non-traditional ingredients. How do ramen noodles different from other Japanese noodle soups like soba? How did ramen preparations change in order to satisfy the caloric needs of the Japanese population. Tune ...
Jun 12, 2014•34 min•Ep. 175
How does one begin to encapsulate the varied cuisine of Italy? On this episode of A Taste of the Past, Linda Pelaccio is joined by Associate Professor at the New School, Fabio Parasecoli. Recently, Fabio released Al Dente , a book about the history of food in Italy. Learn how a desire for modernization suppressed the interest in Italian heirloom ingredients. Find out how economic conditions shaped Italian cuisine today. Why is Italian food so regionally diverse, and how do Italians express their...
Jun 05, 2014•42 min•Ep. 174
Linda Pelaccio welcomes Josh Kilmer-Purcell and his husband Brent Ridge, who are known as The Fabulous Beekman Boys, to this week’s episode of A Taste of the Past ! The Beekman Boys describe themselves as “Two NYC guys who bought a farm and are sharing their experiment in living better lives, season by season, neighbor by neighbor.” They are the stars of The Fabulous Beekman Boys , a reality TV show now broadcasting on The Cooking Channel, and have many other endeavors, including running a farm,...
May 29, 2014•37 min•Ep. 173
David Sax is an expert of food trends and author of Save the Deli and most recently The Tastemakers: Why We’re Crazy For cupcakes But Fed Up With Fondue . Linda and David talk about how food trends come about, how they spread across the world, and how they come back decades later. Tune in to hear about trends such as Asian BBQ and cupcakes! This program has been sponsored by S. Wallace Edwards & Sons . Today’s music provided by Pamela Royal . “Everything’s so interconnected. We share our foo...
May 22, 2014•38 min•Ep. 172
You think you know pasta? Think again! This week on A Taste of the Past , Linda Pelaccio chats with author and pasta expert Maurren Fant who dispels many common myths around everybody’s favorite carb. From cooking times to salting water, Maura breaks down pasta from A-Z and leaves listeners with a much better understanding of the potential, history and variations of pasta. She talks about the process of writing her award-winning book, Sauces & Shapes: Pasta the Italian Way , and describes wh...
May 08, 2014•47 min•Ep. 171
German cuisine is often thought of as brats and not much else. Ursula Heinzelmann is here to change that perception and she’s this week’s guest on A Taste of the Past . Ursula is an acclaimed German food and wine writer, a sommelière and a gastronome. She’s written numerous books on the subject of German cuisine and has twice been awarded the annual Sophie Coe Prize in Food History at the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, most recently in 2006. Her latest book is called Beyond Bratwurst: A ...
May 01, 2014•33 min•Ep. 170
